Curious about my grad school prospects

[feso]

I'm currently in the process of applying to grad schools and I'm having second thoughts (and honestly even second guessing) on my odds of admission and opportunities in grad school.

I'm a senior at a liberal arts college. Physics-Astronomy combined major and a Math minor. I'm an international student on an F-1 visa, so any PhD program will have to sponsor my visa too. My cumulative GPA sits at 3.2 because of one bad physics grade and a couple of C's in general distribution required courses (humanities and social sciences). My bad grade in physics is a D in an Analog & Digital Instrumentation Lab course and it was mainly because of a bad personal experience that semester.

Otherwise my grades are mostly B's to low A's in physics, astro and math. I've taken most of the core physics courses required for grad school (QM is left to take in spring 2024), and a few upper-level courses in astro including Cosmology, Stellar Astrophysics and Senior Research.

To be very very honest I don't know where my specific academic interests lie, but I really enjoy the computational aspect of physics/astro. I have one summer of research experience in Biophysics where I was mainly building a computational model using Python and COMSOL, so I can probably use that to demonstrate my interest in data & computation in astrophysics.

I already have three well-respected professors and researchers willing to write me recommendation letters, including my summer research professor. Throughout my undergrad I worked as a physics lab TA and a tutor for physics and math. I have very good experience in Python and Mathematica and can swiftly pick up on most programming languages. My current list of programs are (east coast is a preference because time-difference with home across the globe is minimum):

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Astronomy
Michigan State University, Astrophysics
Dartmouth, physics & astronomy
University of Maryland, astronomy
University of Michigan, astronomy
Rutgers University, physics & astronomy
UC Santa Cruz, astrophysics
University of Connecticut, physics
Yale University, astronomy

I don't really have a strong preference between pursuing a PhD in physics or astronomy in the cases that I have to choose one or the other. If some of the schools have better physics programs than astronomy or vice versa, I would also love that info. Both fields are often overlapping and due to my broad interests, I'm yet to define exactly what I want to focus on. I definitely love learning and am deeply interested in astronomy and physics and data science, and would love to keep learning more and pursue a PhD.

I love teaching and really enjoy helping others, so I'm really looking forward to the assistantship during grad school. However, I don't really know which schools are, if any, a safe pick for me out of this list. I know that Dartmouth and Yale are really far reaches, but I managed to get their application fees waived so it's worth a shot.

I'm mostly curious about where I stand in terms of qualifications and readiness to pursue a PhD in either physics or astronomy or both, specifically for the programs listed. I would love some insights from current PhD students or experts in the field. Criticism is very welcomed as I'm trying to figure out how I to formulate my statement of purpose and academic statement for each program. Happy to provide more info if needed. Thanks! :)

 

[Vanadium 50]

What did you get on the PGRE?

 

[feso]

What did you get on the PGRE?

I didn't take the GRE/PGRE because most programs either don't require it or don't accept it anymore. The programs on my list indicate that the GRE/PGRE, if submitted, do not contribute to the admission favors of the applicant. Would a solid PGRE score help me even for the schools on my list?

 

[Vanadium 50]

Would a solid PGRE score help me even for the schools on my list?

It would have. But with most deadlines between 2 days and 2 weeks away, there is nothing you can do about it.

A 3.2 is poor. A 3.2 with excuses is only marginally less poor. Grad school is competitive, and the schools will admit someone with a 3.8 and no excuses over a 3.2 with excuses almost every single time. You had the opportunity to demonstrate that despite the 3.2 you know some physics. You didn't take it. Admissions committees will conclude that the reason you didn't take it is either you weren't serious, you knew you wouldn't do well, or both.

Remember, anything below a 3.0 is failing in grad school. You are a mere 0.2 points above that, with C's and D's, which will be interpreted as F's.

Your list has some of the best schools in the country on it. Michigan. Santa Cruz, Maryland. Even the weakest schools on your list (UConn and Dartmouth - yes, Dartmnouth) are quite good. What makes you think you are among the strongest candidates? And, more relevantly, what is in your application package that makes it clear why you are among the strongest candidates?

I would normally say "Broaden your target list of schools", but without a PGRE to show that you learned something despite your GPA, your package is not strong. Luck will matter, which means you need to send out lots of applications (really, it's too late to sensibly prune) and you don't want to spend that money.